Chapter 149 - Prologue (2)

2

Now, let us tell someone's prologue.

“Mm! It has been a joyful, happy time.”

The forbidden-book section of the Great Library. The other hunters had withdrawn, leaving only the Librarian and me.

He seemed to want to bid me farewell in private. Beneath the shelves, where old hardcovers served as bricks in towering ramparts, the Librarian looked infinitely small.

“Do you know, Death King?”

“Know what?”

“Happiness evaporates in an instant.”

The Librarian smiled.

“Happiness means loving this very moment. Finding the moment so lovely that you cannot help yourself. Alas, alas. Moments are like an ever-flowing stream; even if I set my happiness afloat upon it like a single maple leaf, it is bound to drift away, and away again.”

The Librarian slowly swept his left arm through the air. Several apocalypses flew over and gathered in one place.

Among them were apocalypses I had conquered and others that the other hunters had cleared.

+

22nd Floor: Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon (Genres: Martial Arts Fiction, Fusion)

23rd Floor: Chronicles of the Space Iron Knights (Genre: SF)

24th Floor: Diary of Dawn Lodge (Genres: Mystery, History)

25th Floor: Tales of Sormwin Academy (Genres: Romance, Fantasy)

26th Floor: Festival City Apocalypse (Genre: Sports)

27th Floor: The Epic of Bakery Street (Genres: Cooking, Management)

28th Floor: My Scapegoat, Our Scapegoat (Genre: Fairy Tales)

29th Floor: City of Heavenly Ascent - Side Story (Genre: School Fiction)

+

“Ahh, how lovely... A fine [Book List]. Not without its flaws, but compared to the lists completed by warriors from other worlds thus far... No, it is incomparably splendid. Almost too precious to give to you.”

The Librarian's eyes sparkled like a child's.

Everyone finds a treasure of their own in childhood. A fake jewel made of transparent plastic. Or the one or two red and black BB pellets mixed among the white ones. A crudely made doll with lovely fingers.

We always needed a secret treasure. The Librarian was gazing up at his own.

“What were the hunters from other worlds like?”

“Well, they chose one of two approaches. Either they selected only easy apocalypses to clear, or only apocalypses that would benefit their Tower.”

“Strictly speaking, we fall into the latter category too.”

“Heh-heh.”

The Librarian covered his mouth with his sleeve.

“You are far too modest. If clearing the stage were your only goal, there would have been no reason to resolve the Heavenly Demon's anguish. Do you know what the simplest strategy was?”

“What was it?”

“Hiding in a remote cave.”

The Librarian gave Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon a light tap.

The scenery around us changed. Light swept across my vision. I closed my eyes briefly, and when I opened them, the library was gone. Instead, we floated in the midst of snow-covered mountains swept by a blizzard.

[“Hey. From what I can tell, we just have to wait until those things die.”]

Hunters I had never seen before were hiding in a cave in the snowy mountains. Their clothes were nothing like those of our world. I realized they were hunters from another world.

[“It's not particularly hard. Just watch out for the zombies roaming around.”]

[“All right! Hang in there, everyone!”]

The Librarian looked down at them and spoke.

“This is a record from the distant past. Hunters who challenged [Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon] long ago. They ascended a Tower in a world different from yours. They chose to stay hidden until the Heavenly Demon and the Murim Alliance Leader died.”

“...”

“Ten days after the starting point, the Murim Alliance Leader dies. The Heavenly Demon loses her mind. In her madness, she scatters her innate vital energy indiscriminately, then dies. Ta-da! Clear!”

The Librarian wiggled his fingers playfully.

“Well, they chose a poor location and died in a zombie attack. Still, the strategy itself was not wrong. Simply wait, and [Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon] clears itself. All you need are measures against the cold, a way to secure food, and the stealth to evade the zombies and the Heavenly Demon. Quite appropriate for B-rank difficulty, would you not agree?”

“...”

“But you did not do that, Death King.”

The Librarian looked at me. Beyond the constellation's shoulder, a blizzard from long, long ago shone like a hologram.

“You always treated the characters as human beings. You did your utmost. You felt anger, and sorrow too. You accepted the apocalypses' stories as your own.”

The Librarian moved his left hand, this time tapping [Tales of Sormwin Academy]. In a flash, the snowy mountains vanished completely.

We were in the basement of the lodging where Raviel had stayed. Raviel stood there, and an unknown man knelt in chains.

[“Th-this is a scam! A scam!”]

The man was covered in blood, as though he had been tortured.

[“The strategy guide says you like white flowers! I gave you flowers every day, cooked nothing but your favorite food, and only had pleasant conversations with you, so why isn't your affinity going up? It's a scam! This ending makes no sense!”]

[“Tsk.”]

Raviel clicked her tongue, looking thoroughly sick of him.

[“What a pathetic creature. Are all the constellations' apostles like this?”]

[“F-fall for me! You're just a half-baked constellation! Hurry up and fall for me!”]

[“... Do the constellations perhaps regard my world as the universe's garbage bin? Is that why they toss their trash here one piece at a time? Good grief. Looking after my people is difficult enough, yet life grows harder by the day.”]

Raviel casually poured poison over the man's head. His scalp melted away.

[“Aaaaargh! Argh! Aaaaagh!”]

The man writhed under the deadly poison. Raviel sighed deeply and left the basement.

THUD!

The basement door closed, cutting off the screams.

“This, too, is something that happened in the past.”

The Librarian shrugged.

“It is difficult for humans to treat other humans as human beings. I applaud you for accomplishing that difficult feat. We shall never meet again... But please remember that I will always be cheering for you.”

“We won't meet again?”

“Mm! I must now invite and welcome warriors from other worlds.”

The Librarian chuckled.

“I cannot look after only you forever. Worlds are infinite, and Towers innumerable. Even now, countless warriors are climbing their Towers, just as you are! I agreed with the Master of All Life to welcome them and... Ah. My apologies. I cannot tell you any more.”

The Librarian extended his right hand.

“Well done.”

He smiled gently.

“The Great Library of Myriad Thoughts will now disappear from the twenty-first floor. A small rest area will take its place. Well, in a special act of generosity, I shall give you a rest area that is positively paradisiacal.”

“Yes.”

I shook the Librarian's right hand.

“Thank you.”

“Ohoho. To think I would live to see the day I shook hands with my favorite character and made another favorite character a librarian... Hmm?”

There was a reason the end of his sentence turned uncertain.

I tightened my grip.

The Librarian tried to end the handshake, but I did not let go.

“Death King?”

The Librarian tilted his head.

“Are you reluctant to bid me farewell? I am delighted by the sentiment, but you have now cleared the twenty-first through thirtieth floors. Ah, the thirtieth floor will have a rest area too. There is an apocalypse called [Tales of the Resort City]. Its recreational facilities come very close to paradise, and as a complimentary service, I shall...”

I looked down at the constellation without expression.

“...”

The Librarian grew less talkative.

“Death King...?”

To borrow the Librarian's favored way of speaking:

“What is the matter? I am a little frightened...?”

Today was the day Kim Yul and the director finished their long prologue and finally entered the main story.

“Librarian.”

But that was not all.

“There's something I'd like to ask before we part.”

“What is it...?”

“About you.”

Ever since I conquered Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon...

“You don't have a reason to live anymore, do you?”

I had been counting the days until this moment.

3

[“Why do you favor the Heaven-Slaying Star?”]

[“Lefanta Aegim is a human who goes around killing constellations. I could understand disliking him, but I don't see any reason to like him.”]

On the day we finished Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon, we descended onto a snowy mountain. With the corpse of a black dragon, blackened in death, before us, the Librarian and I spoke frankly about our feelings for the first time.

[“Since you have asked, I shall make a special exception and answer. I have a very old dream.”]

[“A dream?”]

[“Indeed.”]

The Librarian's eyes sparkled with pure innocence.

[“To appear in a novel I love myself!”]

The Librarian said that “intervening” in a novel and “appearing” in one were different. He confessed that he hoped to appear naturally in a story, and thus become a character on equal footing with its other characters.

[“I refuse to intervene. That leaves only one way to become a character in a story.”]

[“Rather than my seeking out a character in a novel, a character in a novel must seek me out.”]

The Librarian whispered like a boy experiencing his first love.

[“Lefanta Aegim. The Heaven-Slaying Star constantly travels between worlds, killing constellations. Someday, he will visit my world, the Great Library of Myriad Thoughts. To kill me.”]

That was why the Librarian loved the Heaven-Slaying Star.

[“I am waiting. For the day the Heaven-Slaying Star visits the Great Library.”]

The only way he could become a character in a story.

[“I look forward to the day he stands before me, following his own story, of his own volition. On that day, I shall finally appear in Lefanta Aegim's story!”]

The Librarian said:

[“To be killed by the protagonist—is that not the finest epilogue?”]

And now.

I open my mouth and say:

“It's gone now, isn't it? Your reason to live.”

“...”

The Librarian's expression stiffened.

“... What do you mean?”

“You told me your dream was to become a character in a story someday. You wanted to appear naturally, without forcing your way in, and the Heaven-Slaying Star was the only candidate who could fulfill that dream. But...”

I smiled.

“Are you still waiting for the Heaven-Slaying Star to kill you?”

“...”

“Do you think the Heaven-Slaying Star who met the director will kill you?”

The Librarian swallowed.

“No. I do not... understand what you are saying. Death King? The Heaven-Slaying Star who met the director is merely the one you took in through Rebirth of a Hundred Ghosts. The Heaven-Slaying Star on the fiftieth floor is still alive and well. Someday, that man will come and kill me...?”

“That's true, but...”

I gripped the Librarian's right hand a little harder.

“That Heaven-Slaying Star isn't the route you chose. I asked you earlier, remember?”

Route 1.

The Heaven-Slaying Star on the fiftieth floor, who had not met me or forgiven the director.

Route 2.

The Heaven-Slaying Star who met me and finally came to forgive the director.

I had asked which of the two he would recognize as [The Heaven-Slaying Star's Story].

“You chose the second route.”

And the Librarian had recognized the latter as the main history. The story the Heaven-Slaying Star experienced while possessing Kim Yul, the story of receiving the director's apology—he accepted all of it as the Heaven-Slaying Star's life.

In other words...

“Let's say the Heaven-Slaying Star on the fiftieth floor does come to you someday. You... When that moment comes, will you truly be able to feel pure joy?”

“...”

“A Heaven-Slaying Star who never even met the director. Who never experienced that anger, sorrow, revenge, or forgiveness. Can you truly accept him, deep in your heart, as the real Heaven-Slaying Star? Can you accept an ending where that Heaven-Slaying Star murders you?”

The Librarian might not have realized it, but he had effectively shattered his own “dream.”

“Of course you can't. You worship stories above all else. There's no way you'd want to be killed by someone you don't recognize, an [Extra].”

“...”

“And just so you know, there's no point denying it.”

Because I could see it all laid bare.

'Character window.'

Whom the constellation before me loved.

+

Name: Shut-In Librarian

Affinity: 99

Preferred Genres: [Fusion], [Romance], [Mystery], [Adventure], [Horror], [History], [War], [Sports], [SF], [Myths], [Fairy Tales]...

Disliked Genres: None

Preferred Characters: [Characters], [Death King], [Kim Yul]

Disliked Characters: None

Preferred Plots: [Story]

Disliked Plots: [Discontinuation]

+

The Heaven-Slaying Star's name had changed to Kim Yul.

The order had changed too. My name had originally come after the Heaven-Slaying Star's, but now it occupied the place before it. With the Heaven-Slaying Star's story brought to a close for now, he had come to love my story more.

“...”

Silence.

The Librarian looked dazed. He gazed up at me in disbelief.

“Death King, you, what have you done...? How long have you been planning this...?”

“Since that day. I started planning when I heard your dream in the snowy mountains. Of course, I hadn't worked out every detail.”

But I had already drawn the broad outline then. A project to make him like me more than the Heaven-Slaying Star. That was why I had pushed myself somewhat beyond my limits to pursue the Heaven-Slaying Star tenaciously, almost obsessively.

To hunt a single constellation.

“Hamustra.”

The Librarian flinched at being called by his true name.

“You have two paths left now.”

“Two paths...?”

“Live here forever without fulfilling your dream. Say goodbye to me. Give up the hope that the Heaven-Slaying Star will grant your dream someday, and stay shut away in the library as you always have, serving and entertaining only warriors who treat characters like garbage.”

“Ugh...”

The Librarian trembled slightly. Instinctively, he struggled to wrench his hand out of mine. But his own physical strength was negligible. My right hand held firm.

“If you don't want that, hand it over.”

“What... What do you mean...?”

“The book containing your story.”

The prey I had had my sights on for so long.

“Give me the book that records your life.”

Not an apocalypse recording another world's end, nor a book containing another world's scenery, but a book embracing only the [Shut-In Librarian] who lived here, in the [Great Library of Myriad Thoughts].

“I will make it the thirtieth floor of this Tower.”

“...”

“Then you, too, will naturally become a member of our Tower. Do you understand? You'll become a character in our story too. Become our companion.”

The Librarian's mouth fell open.

“Climb the Tower with me, Hamustra.”